Monday, November 18, 2019

Media Monday

The McClatchy newspaper chain, one of the largest in the country, announced it's phasing out Saturday print editions by the end of 2020.  Tread carefully.  People will learn to live without you on Saturday.  Other days of the week are sure to follow.  In the media industry, habits are exceptionally important.

NBC is shuffling executives on "Tonight" with Jimmy Fallon.  There are nights the show finishes in third place, behind Colbert and Kimmel.  According to the New York Post, NBC doesn't know if it wants to travel the political route, like others have done, or do something different.  While it would be nice to have a politics-free oasis at 11:35 PM, Fallon isn't the guy.  He's a talented comedian and musician, but Fallon still looks terrified during his monologue and he's a weak interviewer.  And, enough with the silly games!

The FOX News Channel scored impressive numbers during last week's impeachment hearings.  What does that tell us?  Do not underestimate President Trump's popularity.

Mike Francesa is retiring from WFAN in New York, again.  This one scores a yawn in my book.  Francesa stopped being really relevant a long time ago.

I've mentioned this before, but it bears repeating.  I recently picked up a three month Sirius/XM free trial, and that includes "American Top 40" with Casey Kasem.  The production values on that show are simply outstanding.

Disney lining up a ton of subscribers for its streaming service is impressive.  I don't subscribe to any streaming services, and I have no plans to.

"Sports Illustrated" gave up on being a weekly a long time ago.  It's now struggling to hold on as a monthly.  It's sad, and i know times have changed, but there would be days, as a kid, when I couldn't wait for the letter carrier to drop it off.  Student subscriptions were exceptionally reasonable.

A bizarre circumstance in the car on a recent late night.  I desired news-- top of the hour network news.  One station that usually has it was broadcasting two guys yammering about a meaningless hockey game.  The next choice was off the air because of the wind storm.  I thought about it, and those were the only two stations that regularly inform their listeners.  Luckily, I found an out of town station with news when I hit the AM scan button.

CBS Sunday Morning profiled former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw yesterday.  On one hand, it was nice to see some old video.  On the other, it pains me to see Brokaw old and frail.

Happy birthday to Newswatch 16's Mike Stevens.